Culver City high school girls and boys basketball teams are flying high

The season is still early but the initial results are very positive for the Culver City High School girls' and boys' basketball. The girls are 4-1 at press time and the boys are currently 6-1. The driving force behind both teams besides talented players is an excellent coaching staff. The girls' coach is long time head coach Julian Anderson, and the boys head coach is second year leader Ray Singleton.

Both teams rely on a mixture of veteran and new players and both teams play smart basketball which is so important at the high school level. A lot of high school teams play run and gun basketball and that leads to turnovers and mistakes. There is a method to madness in high school basketball and a lot of coaches lean towards the madness.

At Culver City the coaches keep everything in perspective. "Fundamentals and communication, that's what sets us apart from other teams," said Singleton last Monday. "We pride ourselves on being fundamentally sound and also we have good athletes."

Talented players make coaches look like geniuses and the girls' and boys' teams have talent. The boys are fortunate to have returning players who also play football and according to Singleton that makes a big difference.

Key players who joined the team after the football season ended a few weeks ago are the coach's sons, Braylon and Myles Singleton, Jordan Njoku, Mark Fourte and William Fourte. "Those guys make a big difference," said Singleton. "They also have the experience and the camaraderie because they have been playing together for a long time. It just makes for a good formula for success. They are having a lot of fun on the court right now."

Coach Singleton thinks playing several sports in high school helps the student athlete physically. "We have athletes that play dual sports," said coach Singleton. "When you play football, it carries over to basketball because of the physicality. They are well-conditioned athletes and they are in good shape. This allows us to be a little more physical against teams that are bigger than us."

The boys' team is currently playing in a lot of holiday tournaments which keeps them constantly on the road. Their next home game is December 20, against Centennial of Compton at 7:30 p.m.

The Culver City High School girls' basketball team is getting better every week according to head coach Anderson. "We are making progress. It's still early but we are improving. The returning girls are looking pretty good right now."

Anderson continued to talk about the Lady Centaurs. "We need to execute better. This group needs to keep improving. We don't have a lot of experience that we normally have but I like the effort right now."

One player that appears to have gotten better is junior guard Makenna Lohman. Lohman is a three-point specialist who plays with a lot of energy. "We are getting better," said Lohman after she scored 14 points last week against Immaculate Heart high school.

Their next home games are December 10, at 6:30 p.m. and December 12, at 6:30 p.m.